


oh, the whole world it is sleeping (but my world is you)

by bloominggroves



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Domestic Bliss, M/M, Post-Canon, The upside-down Spiderman kiss except it's Caduceus in a tree, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-11-18 02:21:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18111287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloominggroves/pseuds/bloominggroves
Summary: At an indeterminate point after the end of Campaign 2, Caleb lives in the Blooming Grove with Caduceus and his family.(also known as: the result of a sleep-deprived conversation on Discord where we worked out how the upside-down spiderman kiss would work for Clayleb)





	oh, the whole world it is sleeping (but my world is you)

The morning dawns bright and clear, with a ridiculous number of birds hanging about the temple, and Caleb wakes to find himself alone in bed. 

 

This in and of itself isn't unusual—  Caduceus often wakes up early to cook or make a start on the garden—  so Caleb drags himself out of bed and down several flights of alarmingly-angled stairs to the kitchen. He finds several members of the Clay family there: old Celestine, who waves her wooden walking-stick at him without looking up from the stove, and Camellia, one of his husband's many sisters, who throws an apple at him  by way of a greeting. He catches it with a well-timed  _ mage hand,  _ and Camellia grins and gestures with her head toward the garden, sending her shock of blue-and-silver hair swinging over her shoulders. Caleb nods, offers a "good morning, Corrin," to Caduceus's brother, who's just shuffled down the stairs with his eyes closed and is currently feeling his way toward the pot of tea on the counter, and steps outside. 

 

The air is warm and heavy with the scent of orange blossom, and the sun filtering through the trees sends patterns spiralling across the grass and flowers of the Blooming Grove. He's forgotten to put shoes on, but he finds he doesn't mind. The earth is soft, the day is warm, and he's just caught a glimpse of bright pink hair out of the corner of his eye.

 

As Caleb makes his way over to where Caduceus probably is, he notes several other Clays scattered around the grove. Clarabelle is in her usual position for this time in the morning, meditating on the temple roof, and Cormac, Caduceus's grandfather, is busy picking oranges off a tree to fill a  basket. 

 

"Grab that one I dropped, won't you?" Cormac says as Caleb walks up to him. Caleb does, dropping it into the old firbolg's outstretched hand, where Cormac proceeds to take a bite out of it, skin and all. (The habit had unnerved Caleb at first, but it turned out that Cormac simply thought they were meant to be eaten that way, and nobody had ever bothered to tell him otherwise.) 

 

He makes it over to where he saw Caduceus, and looks around for any sign of where his husband could be. He thinks his eyes were playing tricks on him for a moment—  there's no sign of Caduceus anywhere— until a noise from the tree above him makes him look up. Sure enough, he sees Caduceus standing among the branches, staring intently at the tree-trunk with his hands pressed against the bark. 

 

"Ah.  _ Liebling,  _ what are you doing up there?" Caleb asks, startling Caduceus out of whatever dream he was immersed in. 

 

"Trying to ask the tree something," Caduceus calls down. "It wasn't answering, so I thought maybe a new perspective would help things." 

 

"Did it work?" 

 

"No. I think all my spell slots are gone. Or maybe it did answer and I wasn't paying attention. That happens sometimes." 

 

"Would you mind coming down,  _ liebling?  _ Only you are very high up, and I would hate for you to fall." 

 

Caduceus starts to climb down, slowly and carefully, staying close to the trunk and minding his footsteps. He's almost at eye level with Caleb when his foot slips, and for one heart-stopping moment Caleb thinks he's going to fall, but Caduceus hooks his legs around a branch to catch himself and hangs there, upside-down, swaying slightly in the wind. 

 

"Are you alright?" Caleb asks, taking a few steps closer. 

 

"Oh, this? Yeah, this happens a lot. It's great. I'm completely fine, don't worry." 

 

"Oh. Well, in that case..." 

 

Caleb takes advantage of the rare opportunity that's been presented to him: He's not often at eye level with his husband, and for once he doesn't need to stand on something or stretch up to lean forward and give Caduceus a quick kiss. Caduceus smiles, swings a little too far forward, overbalances and falls right on top of Caleb.

 

They crash to the ground in a heap of tangled limbs and shouting, and it's a good minute before either of them manages to calm down enough to get back on their feet. Caleb has grass in his mouth, and Caduceus's hair is full of tree bark. They stare at each other for a moment before Caduceus blinks and says, "That was fun." 

 

Like a spell's been broken, they both start laughing, until they're leaning against each other and in danger of falling over again. When they've both composed themselves for the second time in as many minutes, Caduceus takes Caleb's hand, and they go to help finish picking the oranges. 

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> (I swear I haven't abandoned Dear Whoever You May Be,,, the next chapter is finished, I just need to finish typing it up. enjoy this in the meantime while I try to decipher my own handwriting from a week ago.)


End file.
